Bimodal IT Organization (Gartner)

What is Bimodal IT?

Gartner Research’s Bimodal IT framework recognizes that traditional development practices are no longer sufficient for organizations with growing enterprise application demand. Instead, the bimodal IT strategy calls for two parallel tracks that support rapid application development for digital innovation priorities, alongside existing application maintenance and operational stabilization projects.

Gartner defines Bimodal IT as "the practice of managing two separate but coherent styles of work: one focused on predictability; the other on exploration. Mode 1 is optimized for areas that are more predictable and well-understood. It focuses on exploiting what is known, while renovating the legacy environment into a state that is fit for a digital world. Mode 2 is exploratory, experimenting to solve new problems and optimized for areas of uncertainty. These initiatives often begin with a hypothesis that is tested and adapted during a process involving short iterations, potentially adopting a minimum viable product (MVP) approach. Both modes are essential to create substantial value and drive significant organizational change, and neither is static. Marrying a more predictable evolution of products and technologies (Mode 1) with the new and innovative (Mode 2) is the essence of an enterprise bimodal capability. Both play an essential role in digital transformation."

What is a Bimodal IT Organization?

A Bimodal IT Organization splits the IT department into two teams, or, as the definition implies, two modes. One focuses on all technology and applications that absolutely need attention. These core systems, legacy applications, and solutions that keep the wheels on absolutely need maintenance. They require a dedicated team, so they should have one.

The second team focuses solely on innovation. What can they build to make the business more efficient and successful? How quickly can they build it? This group is made up of “dreamer” engineers who envision new technology to push their companies forward.

The Bimodal IT Organization - Marathon Runner and Sprinter

According to Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president at Gartner and global head of Research, “CIOs can’t transform their old IT organization into a digital startup, but they can turn it into a bi-modal IT organization.” Gartner's prediction in 2014 was that 75% of IT Organizations that 75 percent of IT organizations would be bi-modal in some way by 2017. they refer to those that fall under the predictable category of Mode 1 as

See Also

• IT Strategy (Information Technology Strategy)
• Business Strategy
• Strategy
• Business IT Alignment
• Bimodal IT
• IT Governance
• IT Organization (information technology organization)